Give Your Book For The Holidays

There is still time to publish your book...just!

The holidays are fast approaching and wouldn't it be great if this was the year you gave away copies of your book as a gift? Well, there is still time...just.

The 21st Century Publishing Update contacted several print on-demand companies to ask if there is still time for new authors to get their books out for the holidays and for their best advice on making the process go smoothly.

Companies promised turnaround in anything from four weeks to four months, but all stressed that the author's input can speed or slow their manuscript's transition to printed book. 

Most of the timelines in the first section of this article assume you are the 'perfect client- author'. The second part of the article gives you advice from the POD companies on how to become that perfect client-author.

POD Timelines: A Comparison

Rich VanLue at 1stBooks said that while their typical turnaround time is3-4 months, many books go through in 8-10 weeks and they recently pushed a book through in 26days. (I know from experience that it is not wise to bank on the exception. If you need your book by a certain date you are BOUND to rush and then run into problems and delays. Read all timelines as minimums -- JD).

Booklocker's Richard Hoy confidently quoted their stated turnaround time of 6 weeks, adding that many books turnaround in just two weeks. [In the interests of full disclosure, Booklocker produced my ebook which DID go through in two weeks). 

Hoy warned that as the holidays approach, Booklocker gets busier and,

"If a book gets into production in lateNovember...that is cutting it close, depending on our current production schedule."

Although he was the only one to mention this, most companies experience a rush at the end of the year as people start to think about gift-wrapping their very own book. 

Katherine Brandenburg of iUniverse quoted a turnaround time of 6-8 weeks, just squeaking in for the holiday trade. She said,

"The average book submitted by November 1 will be ready to purchase from iUniverse by the holidays."

Brandenburg added that their different programs have different production speeds. (As always with iUniverse, be aware that they take rights, like a traditional publisher. Watch for an upcoming article on their new Select program's pros and cons).

eBookstand, which does its own short-run digital printing, says that the perfect author will have 52 copies (their standard deal) of their book in four weeks or less. (See below for printing issues).

Infinity Publishing says that if an author submits by Halloween (Oct 31) they should have finished copies of their books to give out as holiday gifts.

Printing Times: A Couple of Important Caveats

Most of the companies above quoted their in-house production time -- that is, the time between your submission and you approving the final version. Printing the first copies can take days or weeks, depending on the company. If you want actual finished books to hand out, make sure the company you choose can give you firm information on how long printing that first order will take.

For companies that do their own printing, likeeBookstand and Infinity, this should be fairly easy, but companies that rely on an outside vendor for printing may find it harder to make promises.

Booklocker's Hoy pointed out that Lightning Source, which does the printing for many POD companies, sometimes has a backlog.

"They have, of the last few years, got backed up around Christmas. We always encourage our authors to put in any personal orders early (late November)."

iUniverse's Brandenburg made another important point about book distribution. While you should be able to order personal copies from the POD company on the day you approve the final copy of the book it may take several weeks, or even months, for your book to show up as available to order in bookstores' databases. Says Brandenburg,

"It generally takes 4-6 weeks for [the book's information] to flow to all retail channels."

This is important if you want to tell people to go and buy additional copies from Amazon or their local bookstore.

The Perfect Author: Advice on Avoiding Delays

All the companies questioned had the same advice, which, as former Director of Author Services for a POD company, I can vouch for as the major reason books do or do not meet the timelines quoted above:

1. FINISH YOUR BOOK.

"Finishing" your book sounds simple, but it doesn't simply mean writing the last page and then typing "The End" (then deleting it, because, while satisfying, it doesn't look very professional on the printed page).

Finishing the book means making sure you are completely happy that everything you send can be printed without correction.

Corrections to a book after the layout has been created are the primary cause of delays. Every time a POD company opens your book's electronic file to make a change, the book is delayed. Every time they open your book file there is a possibility some new error will be introduced. Even if they only insert a comma, that shifts all your text (creating possible layout problems later in the book), and they have to regenerate PDF from the layout file (and there is always a chance the computer will burp and forget to embed fonts or create other problems). Every time a corrections made, you should review another proof copy, which takes more time. 

Finishing Your Book means: 

+Proofreading

All of the companies I contacted said some variant of this comment from Infinity's John Harnish,

"Proofread and proofread the final copy of your book, and then have someone else proofread again."

Brandenburg adds,

"One look at the negative comments on Amazon or BN.com of books with grammatical and punctuation errors is enough to convince any author of the need for proofreading!"

+Creating the Cover Copy

The summaries of your book that go onto the cover and, more importantly for a POD book, the bookselling websites and your promotional materials, are critical to your success in marketing the book. Since this information needs to be complete before your book can be created, you must take some time to polish it BEFORE you submit the book.

The author bio and, in some cases, internet keywords, are equally important.

These pieces are hard to write but they are an essential piece of your marketing. They must be polished and they must be proofread.

+Thinking About Cover Design

If you POD company allows you input into cover design, think hard about it before you send in your manuscript. iUniverse's Brandenburg advises going to the bookstore and looking at competing books to see what works and what doesn't. If you are supplying art work make sure it follows the company's requirements exactly (no 72 dpi images swiped from a web page, please! ¹).

Once again, I stress, if your book or cover copy needs corrections the process will be delayed. The more complex the corrections the greater the delays.

2. DON'T DILLY DALLY

All the companies stressed the importance of the author doing their part in a timely manner. This means supplying all materials in the correct format the right time (usually with the initial submission). If you do not supply cover copy with the manuscript or send problematic cover art, the company cannot get to work on your book  immediately and the timelines are already skewed.  So, firstly, send everything in at the right time.

Secondly, all POD companies send you a proof copy  to approve. Check this quickly. Until you get your  corrections or approved copy back to them the POD  company cannot proceed. (Of course, if you rush or  neglect to check them you may end up with errors  that have to be corrected AFTER you have approved  the book. At this point most companies will charge  for corrections even if the errors were theirs. So  check your proofs quickly but carefully.)

When a POD company quotes six weeks for turnaround  they are assuming you will return your proof copy  in a week or two and that any corrections are  minor. If you hang onto your proof copy for four  weeks or mark up every page, you can't expect the  company to meet the original timeline.

A Book For The Holidays

So, while it is still feasible for you to have a  book for the holidays, time is running out. For  those of you with a proofread, ready-to-go  manuscript, why not research a POD company ² and finally hand everyone a copy of that book  you've been telling them about all these years?

***

1. It's probably in violation of a copyright  rule AND a 72 dots per inch image will look  HORRIBLE when printed at 200 dpi or higher.

2.  Remember if you choose a POD company with a non- exclusive (no rights) contract, there is nothing  to stop you trying to sell your book to a  traditional publisher in time for the next holiday  season!

 ***

If there are other questions you need answered about publishing and book selling, email me at jd@jdwrite.com. If I don't know the answer, I'll try to find someone who does.

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